


Carlos's thoughts on...

by gingerlegend



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Night Vale Headcanon, Philosophy, autistic!Carlos, headcanons, science(tm)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-23
Updated: 2019-12-03
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:06:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21527209
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gingerlegend/pseuds/gingerlegend
Summary: A series of drabbles, mostly comprised of headcanons that are phrased as narration.
Relationships: Carlos/Cecil Palmer
Kudos: 22





	1. Thoughts on Janice

Out of everyone in Night Vale, Carlos's favorite person (not including his husband Cecil) was Janice Palmer. To him, she represented the best parts about science. In any earlier era, she wouldn't have been able to do much more than survive, if even that.  
She had been born with a birth defect called spina bifida, so she couldn't walk. She used a wheelchair, which could not exist without science. She was not only surviving, but thriving.  
Carlos liked her moxie. He liked how easily she started calling him "Uncle Carlos." She'd started even before he and Cecil got married. He liked how her physical disability didn't define who she was. She was strong, in spite of her disability.  
When Carlos felt like he wasn't the man Cecil thought he was, all Carlos had to do was remember how strong Janice was. He drew inspiration from her, and pushed through his anxieties.  
Carlos used to be embarrassed about stimming. He used to try to suppress it, but in Night Vale, everyone was broken in their own ways. It was okay to be broken, and being broken wasn't a bad thing here. In Night Vale, it was expected and appreciated.  
In Night Vale, no one saw disability as "being broken." Carlos was still learning to accept himself, and Night Vale was the perfect place to learn that.  
Carlos was so glad to be a citizen of this wonderful, terrifying town. He didn't understand the admiration everyone had for him, but that was the kind of thing he didn't feel the need to understand.  
He loved Night Vale, he loved Cecil, and he loved his niece Janice.  
He was so happy to be Carlos Palmer.  
He didn't know how to say it most of the time. He was never that great at describing things that weren't facts. But he knew Cecil loved him too.


	2. Thoughts on Smiling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is mostly about what Carlos thinks of Kevin. I included a reference to my favorite holiday movie, "Elf," and decided that the Night Vale version of it is as I describe in the opening paragraph.

As the protagonist of a classic wintertime horror movie once said, "I like smiling. Smiling's my favorite." Carlos had seen the movie a number of times in the years before he came to Night Vale. "Elf" was a cautionary tale about the dangers of too much positivity, and it had coincidental helped Carlos mentally prepare for most of what he ended up learning about Desert Bluffs. He had a healthy distrust of performative optimism, but he never truly feared it.

Even now, years after Strex's brief takeover of Night Vale, he believed there was still good to be found in people like Kevin and Lauren. It wasn't exactly a scientific belief, but there were certain things that defied science, although the list was incredibly short. Religion was the only one Carlos would ever give direct mention, but the concepts of good and evil were generally inexplicable in scientific terms, as agreed upon by scientists all over the world.

Kevin wasn't exactly a villain, Carlos believed. He was a hero who not only had the misfortune to be defeated, but then he was horribly corrupted. For a long time, Carlos's opinion of Kevin was merely a hypothesis, but Carlos was listening to the broadcast when the radio signals from the Kevin of Desert Bluffs' past, (almost) present, and future happened to coincide with Cecil's broadcast. Kevin had been brainwashed, tortured, and perhaps even lobotomized until he fit into the Smiling God's ideal spokesperson.  
The Smiling God was perhaps the most evil entity Carlos knew of, and still he couldn't hate Kevin. He'd never hated anyone in his life, and if he had to choose someone to hate, he would not choose the man who'd been so kind to him in the Desert Otherworld, and so understanding about his need to return to Night Vale.  
He kept his opinion about the Smiling God to himself most of the time. He wasn't a theologist; he was a scientist. Even if he was qualified to discuss religion, he wouldn't dare speak ill of any religion. The Joyous Congregation would be offended, and Carlos never wanted to offend.  
Perhaps someday, Kevin will meet someone he can settle down with. Perhaps he already had.  
Carlos hoped so. Kevin was his friend and only wanted the best for him.

Carlos liked smiling, but it was important to frown sometimes. That is, of course, why human beings could express more than one emotion. It was an evolutionary mechanism for communication.  
And to Carlos, that in itself is beautiful.


End file.
